Shabad Kriya - Bedtime Meditation

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Many people have difficulty going to sleep even though they are

tired. There are many reasons for insomnia. When the mind is too

active, we have a hard time going to sleep or even if we do go to

sleep, we are restless and do not sleep deeply. There are many

theories and opinions about how much sleep a person needs and it

certainly varies according to state of health, activity and

circumstances. But most of us would agree that the deeper and more

peaceful the sleep, the more rested we feel the next morning.

 

There are several things that we can do to promote deeper and more

restful sleep.

 

(1) SLOW DOWN

 

Before going to bed, start to slow down. Walk slower. Stop heavy

mental activity. Write down what you need to do the next day and

leave the list in the other room. This allows you to clear your mind

and lets the energy start coalescing to get what you want done

accomplished. If there is something on your mind that you have not

been able to resolve, make a special list for the angels, for the

Divine or whoever might to around to help and turn it over to a

higher, unemployed power that needs an activity for the night. Feel

complete about the day. Acknowledge yourself for what you

accomplished and lessons learned. Forgive yourself for anything that

bothers you. Heh, no one's perfect. And list five things you are

grateful for. In other words, prepare yourself to devote the next

hours to peaceful, unpreoccupied sleep. You not only deserve, you

need to rest.

 

(2) EATING HABITS

 

Eat your last meal at least 2 1/2 hours before you go to bed. When

we eat just before going to bed our energy is tied up with digestion

and it is hard to sleep deeply. Eat lightly for your evening meal.

Definitely no animal protein, fried or heavy foods. Any dairy at

night will make it more difficult to get up the next day. I used to

have a small yogurt snack before going to bed. It was so painful to

try to wake up in the am. When I eliminated the yogurt, it was like

a weight was lifted off of me. I was so much clearer in the

morning. Soups, salads, stemmed vegetables or other easily digested

dishes are the best for the evening meal.

 

(3) LEFT NOSTRIL BREATHING

 

The two nostrils are associated with two very different energies.

When we breathe through the right nostril, we are energized and

stimulated. When we breathe through the left nostril, we relax and

calm down. Our breath naturally changes dominant nostrils

approximately every 2-1/2 hours. After eating our nostrils will

change to the left to accommodate the energy needed to digest our

food. That is one reason why we feel like sleeping after eating.

 

You can tell which nostril is your dominate one at any time simply by

blocking off one, then the other. The dominant one is easy to

breathe through and the less dominate one feels like it is blocked.

 

It is useful before going to bed to sit quietly, block off the right

nostril and breath long and deeply through the left nostril. Slowing

down the breath to 4 or less breaths per minute also facilitates

sleep.

 

Lying on the left side facilitates digestion and opens the right

nostril. If you do need to digest your food, lying on the left side

with help. However, to get to sleep, lying on your right side with

help open the left nostril. You can also close off the right nostril

with the right thumb to open the left nostril.

 

In both exercises, mentally inhale SAT and exhale NAM. The mental

focus on the mantra and the breath are very soothing.

 

SHABAD KRIYA- BEDTIME MEDITATION (*1)

 

Yogi Bhajan has given us the following meditation to practice before

going to bed. If practiced on a regular basis, once a week or even

every night, your sleep will be deep and relaxed. The control of the

rhythm of the breath strengthens the nervous system and regenerates

the nerves. After a few months, the rhythm of your breath will be

subconsciously regulated and eventually you will internally chant the

mantra while you are sleeping. You may wake up to the internal chant

of the mantra and hear it in your daily activities. You will think

better, work better, share better and love better. " There cannot be

enough praise of the meditation's effect on the personality. It

gives the mind the power to stretch to infinity, promotes radiance,

patience and practical universality. " (Relax p. 118)

 

This is a good meditation to do to recover from fatigue caused by

normal daily stress, travel and even jet lag.

 

DIRECTIONS

 

MUDRA-HAND POSITION

 

Sit in Easy Pose with a straight spine. Hands are in the lap in

Buddha Mudra: palms up, right hand resting on top of left. The

thumbs touch and face forward.

 

EYES

 

The eyes focus at the tip of the nose with the eyes about 9/10th

closed. There are several ways to facilitate looking at the tip of

the nose. Bring your forefinger in front of your face and look at

it. Keep looking at the forefinger and slowly bring the forefinger to

the tip of the nose.

 

To facilitate the concentration at the tip of the nose, do the

following exercise. Bring the arms out to your sides parallel to the

ground, palms up. Do breath of fire for 1-3 minutes. This exercise

balances the right and left hemispheres of the brain, which makes it

easier to maintain the focus of the two eyes.

 

The eyes focused at the tip of the nose causes the optic nerves to

cross at the third eye. Thus it is easier to bring your mental focus

to the third eye while the eyes are directed at the tip of the nose.

Both the pineal and the pituitary glands and the area between them

are stimulated by this eye posture, which has the effect of breaking

old habits and creating new ones.

 

BREATHING AND MANTRA

 

Inhale 4 equal parts through the nose, i.e. the inhale is divided

into 4 sniffs. Mentally vibrate SA TA NA MA with the four parts of

the inhale breath.

 

Hold the breath and mentally repeat 4 repetitions of SA TA NA MA.

This will be 16 counts

 

SA TA NA MA SA TA NA MA SA TA NA MA SA TA NA MA

 

Then exhale in 2 equal strokes, mentally projecting

 

WAHE GURU

 

WAHE GURU means ecstasy. WAHE GURU is the result of integrating SAT

NAM into the psyche. When we experience the Truth, we feel ecstasy.

 

TIME

 

Continue for 11, 15, 22, 31 or even 62 minutes. This meditation will

often put you to sleep before you complete the allotted time.

 

(Source: kundalini yogaclasses.html )